A Co Down family has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after their business was targeted in an overnight burglary.

Thieves broke into Cafolla's cafe and gift shop in Newtownards on Wednesday night after gaining entry through the roof.

A substantial amount of cash was stolen in the raid along with money from a charity box.

The Cafolla family were greeted with the devastating aftermath of the robbery on Thursday morning, the same day their 21-year-old son began cancer treatment.

Speaking to Belfast Live, Michael Cafolla who runs the business with his wife Marie said they were stunned by the break-in.

He added: "It was my mother who opened up this morning and found the place like this, she'll be 90 next week and obviously we didn't expect that. It looks like it's quite targeted and we've had a fair amount of money stolen, I had money hidden away for a lodgement to do today and I had it put away.

Thieves emptied the content from the charity box

"We have a gift shop as well and we had jewellery stolen last week as well by shoplifters so it's been a bit of a bad week.

"They took the charity box money as well which is disgusting but the thing is they did get a substantial amount of cash so there was no need really to have taken that.

"Today was a tough day for us already as our son Thomas was undergoing his first day of chemotherapy, so that's more of a priority for us but this doesn't help."

Michael added: "He was in London on his year out and he was only diagnosed last week. Marie had gone over to help him move flats and he hadn't been well so it's all been a rollercoaster in the past two weeks or so.

"They've had to take the roof tiles off to get through the roof and get in. They did try and take the lock off the back door but it's bolted from the inside, so they couldn't get in."

Thieves gained entry to the business via the roof

The 53-year-old dad-of-four said he was concerned about the accuracy of the thieves and suspects someone may have been watching the popular coffee shop and gift store in the last number of weeks.

He added: "The police said there have been a number of break-ins in the area but I haven't heard about any others and couldn't find any reports about them on their website.

"I was just concerned because where I would keep the money for the wages and the lodgment it would be very specific for them to find it although they did go through and ransack everywhere and they were able to open the touch screen tills, they didn't vandalise them they opened them as normal using the buttons on the screen.

"Marie is also a wedding florist so she works late nights, so people would see the lights on, so they've obviously scoped it out to know to come in after we've gone home."

The Cafolla family say they are determined to have their business up and running fully as soon as possible.

Michael added: "We've got the downstairs shop open today, at the end of the day we have wages to pay and bills to look after so I need to try and get running as quick as possible and obviously with us being out of the shop with Thomas' illness, we've got people in to get the upstairs cleared today and hopefully get it up and running today too."

Sergeant Ossie McClean said: “Police received a report shortly after 8am this morning (Thursday, 19th October) that entry had been gained into the premises and a quantity of cash had been stolen.

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“It’s believed the burglary occurred sometime between 10pm last night and 7:30am this morning.

“I am appealing to anyone who was in the area between these times and saw any suspicious activity, or who knows anything about this incident to contact police in Newtownards on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 207, 19/10/17, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”